Kenya’s fintech startup Pezesha has emerged the overall winner in the 2020 AFI Inclusive FinTech Showcase, an event that promotes financial inclusion in the emerging and developing countries.
Pezesha has been in operation since 2017 and it provides financial access to underserved micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by linking them to banks, microfinance institutions and other retail lenders through a digital platform. The Fintech also educates small businesses on how to improve their credit scores in order to increase their access to funding.
Pezesha’s clientele is 80% youth-run businesses and 60% women-owned businesses. The company has assisted more than 20,000 small and medium sized businesses and led to the creation of over 1,000 formal jobs and 5,000 informal jobs.
According to Pezesha’s founder and CEO Hilda Moraa, their have paid out KSh223 million ($2 million) to businesses across Kenya. The Fintech company has also partnered with leading companies like Google, Mastercard, Pesapoint and Letshego to extend its reach to more underserved persons.
In October this year, the Kenyan fintech received approval from the Capital Markets Authority to operate its crowdfunding business in Kenya after a successful one-year testing in CMA’s regulatory sandbox from July 2019 to July 2020.
